1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to printers, and more particularly, to an inkjet printer having a removable paper tray with integrated platen and capping stations.
2. Related Art
Digital set-top boxes (e.g., cable television boxes, Internet terminal boxes etc.) are being used increasingly with consumer home entertainment equipment such as television sets, video cassette recorders, digital video disc (DVD) players and the like. In many cases, it is desirable for a user to obtain a hard copy of information displayed on the screen of their television sets. Specifically, users typically want to print e-mail messages, maps, recipes and information-rich content, such as still or captured scenes from live broadcasts, DVD players, movie cameras, video recorders etc.
Currently, if a user wants to have a hardcopy of the displayed information, the user has to use a conventional printer. Most conventional printers, however, are bulky, and thus require large amounts of space in user' home entertainment units. Hence, a printer specifically designed for use in home entertainment units is needed (i.e., a living room printer).
The living room printer should be of low height (i.e., low profile) and relatively narrow in width to blend in with other home entertainment equipment. In addition, since home entertainment equipment is usually stacked one atop another in home entertainment units, user access to the living room printer should preferably be through a front plane of the printer.
Designing a low profile, narrow width printer with user front plane access presents some technical difficulties. For example, conventional inkjet print engines contain three primary components, which are generally organized in series. Some of these components include the platen and service station. The platen has a printing area where print media (i.e., paper) are printed upon. The service station includes a spittoon receptacle in which print drops are disposed to clear the nozzles. The service station also contains a wiper to wipe clean the printhead during use and a cap to prevent the printhead from drying out during periods of non-use.
Further, many conventional inkjet print engines contain two or more printheads mounted side by side on a transversing carriage. Consequently, two or more service stations, including each a wiper and cap, are used. The caps are spaced at a center to center distance of the printheads so that each printhead can be simultaneously capped during periods of inactivity. The wipers are mounted to allow the printheads to be wiped clean during use. Ordinarily, only one spittoon is used. However, sometimes because of ink incompatibility more than one spittoon is used. Thus, the total width of conventional printers typically depends on the width of the service stations, the platen (which is at least the width of the print media), the width of one or more spittoons and the excursion of the printhead carriage.
Obviously therefore, if the capping stations can be located at the center of the platen rather than at either of its sides, the width of the printer can accordingly be reduced. But due to the requirement that user access be from the front plane of the printer, if the capping stations are placed at the center of the platen, the input tray will have to slide in and out of the printer underneath the capping stations. Having the input tray slide underneath the capping stations will result in a printer of a greater height; thus, violating the low profile requirement of the living room printer.
Consequently, what is needed is a printer that has a front access removable input paper tray with integrated platen and capping stations to keep the printer's height and width to a minimum.